Request By:
Mr. Richard Carlson
Okolona Fire District
P.O. Box 19066
Louisville, Kentucky 40219
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in reply to your letter raising several questions concerning the election and selection of the members of the board of trustees of a fire protection district organized pursuant to KRS Chapter 75.
KRS 75.031 covers the election and selection of the trustees and subsection (1) thereof provides in part as follows:
"Upon creation of a fire protection district or a volunteer fire prevention district as provided in KRS 75.010, the affairs of the district shall be conducted by the board of trustees consisting of seven (7) members, four (4) to be elected by the members of the district as hereinafter set out and three (3) to be appointed by the county judge. Two (2) members of the board of trustees shall be elected by the members of the volunteer fire fighters of the district and shall be members thereof. Two (2) members of the board of trustees shall be property owners who own and reside in the property in the district who are not active volunteer fire fighters and shall be elected by such property owners. The county judge of the county in which the greater part of the district is located shall appoint three (3) members of the board of trustees. In counties containing a city of the first class trustees appointed by the county judge to serve in volunteer fire prevention districts shall reside within the boundaries of that fire district. . . ."
Your first question asks whether a member of the fire department may vote in the election for the property owner trustee if he owns property in the fire district.
The answer to your question is "No" because the abovequoted statute provides that the property owners who own and reside in the property in the district and who are eligible for election as trustees and to vote for such trustees, must not be active volunteer fire fighters. See OAG 73-635, copy enclosed, at pages 2-3.
Your second question asks whether a person who does not own a home or land in the fire district but resides in the district and owns a boat, truck, car, etc., which are assessed for tax purposes is eligible to vote in the election for the property owner trustee.
The answer to this question is "Yes" because both real and personal property are subject to the fire protection district tax and, therefore, any person owning real or personal property (including an automobile) subject to the tax would be qualified to vote for the property owner trustees. See OAG 74-782, copy enclosed, where we said that although the term "property owner" is not defined in the statute it refers to persons owning both real and personal property subject to the fire protection district tax enacted pursuant to KRS 75.040.
Your third question asks whether a member of the fire department who resides in the district and owns property in the district can be elected to a position of a property owner trustee.
The answer to this question is "No" and we direct your attention to our response to your first question. Those persons holding the position of property owner trustee and voting for someone to fill that position, in addition to other required qualifications, cannot be active volunteer fire fighters.
Your fourth question asks whether a member of the fire department who resides in the district and owns property in the district may be appointed to a trustee position by the county judge if he cannot be elected by the property owners.
The answer to this question would be a qualified "Yes." KRS 75.031 sets forth no specific qualifications for the appointees of the county judge except that in counties containing a city of the first class such trustees shall reside within the boundaries of that fire district. However, as we pointed out in OAG 74-341, copy enclosed, the statute expresses an intent to construct a balance of interests or viewpoints on the board of trustees of the fire district. The appointments of the county judge should, in our opinion, preserve that balance. While all of the county judge's appointees should not be fire fighters, they should not all be property owning nonfire fighters either. Thus, a fire fighter could be appointed as a trustee by the county judge so long as that particular appointment does not disturb the balance of interests or viewpoints intended by the statute.